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                  <p class="p_Heading1"><span class="f_Heading1">Action</span></p>



  
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                <p class="p_TextIndentedL2"><img src="d_action.png" width="87" height="57" border="0" alt="d_Action"></p>
<p class="p_BodyText"><span class="f_BodyText">An </span><span class="f_BodyText" style="font-style: italic;">Action</span><span class="f_BodyText"> element describes a basic process or transformation that occurs within a system. It is the basic functional unit within an <a href="activitydiagram.htm">Activity diagram</a>. Actions can be thought of as children of </span><span class="f_BodyText" style="font-style: italic;"><a href="activity.htm">Activities</a></span><span class="f_BodyText">. Both represent processes, but Activities can contain multiple steps or decomposable processes, each of which can be embodied in an Action. An Action cannot be further broken down or decomposed.</span></p>
<p class="p_TextIndentedL2"><img src="activity%20diagram%20-%20actions.png" width="260" height="62" border="0" alt="Activity Diagram - Actions"></p>
<p class="p_BodyText"><span class="f_BodyText">An Action can be further defined with </span><span class="f_BodyText"><a href="localprepostconditions.htm">pre-condition and post-condition</a></span><span class="f_BodyText"> notes, and certain properties can be <a href="actionnotation.htm">graphically depicted</a> on the Action (Enterprise Architect prompts you to define the type of Action you are creating when you first drag the </span><span class="f_MenuKeyField">Action</span><span class="f_BodyText"> icon from the </span><span class="f_UIControl">Toolbox</span><span class="f_BodyText">). The data values passed out of and into an Action can be represented by <a href="actionpin.htm">Action Pins</a>.</span></p>
<p class="p_BodyText"><span class="f_BodyText">An Action can be depicted as an </span><span class="f_BodyText"><a href="actionexpansionnode.htm">Expansion Node</a></span><span class="f_BodyText"> to indicate that the Action comprises an <a href="expansionregion.htm">Expansion Region</a>.</span></p>
<p class="p_SubHeadingL1"><span class="f_SubHeadingL1">Toolbox Icon</span></p>
<p class="p_TextIndentedL2"><img src="e_action.png" width="170" height="26" border="0" alt="e_Action"></p>
<p class="p_SubHeadingL1"><span class="f_SubHeadingL1">OMG UML Specification</span></p>
<p class="p_BodyText"><span class="f_BodyText">The OMG UML specification </span><span class="f_BodyText" style="font-style: italic;">(UML Superstructure Specification, v2.1.1, p. 241</span><span class="f_BodyText">) states:</span></p>
<p class="p_OMGText"><span class="f_OMGText">An action is a named element that is the fundamental unit of executable functionality. The execution of an action represents some transformation or processing in the modeled system, be it a computer system or otherwise</span><span class="f_OMGText">.</span></p>
<p class="p_BodyText"><span class="f_BodyText">The OMG UML specification </span><span class="f_BodyText" style="font-style: italic;">(UML Superstructure Specification, v2.1.1, p. 313</span><span class="f_BodyText">) also states:</span></p>
<p class="p_OMGText"><span class="f_OMGText">An action may have sets of incoming and outgoing activity edges that specify control flow and data flow from and to other nodes. An action will not begin execution until all of its input conditions are satisfied. The completion of the execution of an action may enable the execution of a set of successor nodes and actions that take their inputs from the outputs of the action.</span></p>




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